Theatre review: Lucy, Lucy and Lucy Barfield

Sally Stott

In 1992 Lucy Grace read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and has been looking for Narnia ever since – or, rather, she’s now shifted her attention to Lucy Barfield, C S Lewis’s godchild who shares her name with Lucy Pevensie, queen of Narnia.

Star rating: ***

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

With the help of a Fisher Price cassette player and an array of paraphernalia that might fill any 1990s child’s bedroom, she goes on a journey to find out who Lucy Barfield was.

It’s a question only a few hardcore fans seem to have posted anything about on the internet, but Grace’s research leads her to a relative of Barfield’s and the discovery that the elusive woman she’s looking for suffered from multiple sclerosis for most of her life, putting paid to a career as a ballerina. However, legions of Narnia fans sent Barfield letters – ones that, mysteriously, she never received.

While this may be a play that’s of most interest to people who’ve read and enjoyed CS Lewis’s books, it’s also about connections: the ones Lucy Grace makes on her journey and the ones denied to Lucy Barfield.